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THE 



Welcome of Christ 



TO 



PARADISE, 



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BY 



WILLIAM WILBERFORCE NEWTON. 






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J, B. HARRISON, Publisher, 
PITTSFIELD, MASS. 



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"|>e UescenUeU into tfje place of UeptteU spirits: 
tfje tljirU Uaj> |)e rose from tjje Ueati/* 

— Apostles' Creed. 



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THE WELCOME OF CHRIST TO PARADISE. 



THE COMING. 

He cometh ! Lo, He cometh ! 

From earth His Spirit flies ; 
The dead Christ laid in Joseph's tomb 

Is nearing Paradise. 
See ! on the far horizon, 

Upborne on angel's wing, 
Ten thousand souls redeemed and saved 

Are crowding round their King ! 






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He cometh ! Lo, He cometh ! 

The darkness now is past — 
And we who cried, How long, O Lord, 

Shall see His face at last ; 
The saint, the sage, the prophet, 

Who saw by faith's pure ray 
This far-off hour of final joy, 

Shall greet their Lord to-day. 

Behold the Bridegroom cometh ! 

Hark to the deafening psalm ! 
With chorus notes, with victor crowns, 

With amaranth and palm, 
The souls redeemed in Paradise 

Are hurrying on their way ; 
Oh ! go ye out to meet Him, 

And greet your Lord to-day. 



ii. 
recitative. 

'Twas Michael, the valiant archangel, servant of God 

for His people, 
Prince of the Host of the Lord, who thus to a group 

in the meadow 
Spoke of this day of deliverance, and told of the 

coming of Jesus, 

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Pausing to rest for a space, as he stood by the banks 

of the river, — 
The River of Water of Life, — and pointed the way 

towards the sun-gate, 
Bathed in a golden light, while the purple shades of 

the mountains, 
Touched with its crests of lire, flared beacons of 

welcome and worship. 

Out on the Highway of Peace, which, led towards the 

arch of the sun-gate, 
The pathway which spirits redeemed trod as they 

came from Earth's darkness, 
Angels and children and seraphs, with the spirits of 

just men made perfect, 
Flocked round the triumphing Christ, and welcomed 

Him King in His beauty; 
Welcomed Him God and yet human, Saviour and 

King of Immortals, 
Brother and Helper of Man, Herald and Son of the 

Father, 
Welcomed Him Hope of the Ages, Seal of the cer- 
tain hereafter. 




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III. 

CHORUS OF ANGELS. 

Thou hast come to Thy kingdom and glory. 

Thy redeemed have been waiting for Thee ; 
We have heard of the terrible story, 

How Thy hands have been nailed to the tree ; 
We have heard of Gethsemane's sorrow, 

How an angel supported Thee there, 
And the gloom which our spirits would borrow, 

Grows bright by the answer to prayer. 
Thou art welcome, O Saviour of mortals, 

All hail to Thy coming again ! 
Thou hast past the dark dread of death's portals, 

Thou hast opened Thy kingdom to men. 
The grave could no longer confine Thee, 

For death has been robbed of his power, 
Nor the spirits in Limbo malign Thee, 

For darkness rules not this blest hour. 
Ride on ! while Thy prophets and sages 

Pour out their glad anthems before Thee ; 
Ride on ! while the souls of all ages 

In lowliness bend to adore Thee ; 
Let the sword of Thy triumph attend Thee : 

Let meekness and righteousness own, 
While legions of angels defend Thee, 

Their King coming back to His throne ! 



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IV. 
RECITATIVE. 

Then I saw in my dream, as they passed 
The cleft in the rock where I stood, 

Eager that form to behold, 

Scanning its features to see 

Saviour and Master in one, 
Borne home by the angels of God — 
The face of the Saviour of men ! 

From the sighs of the place of a skull, 
From the shadows which creep round the tomb, 
From the doubt and the terror of death, 
From the gloom and the fear of the grave, 
That face, all serene in its light, 
That form, all divine in its power, 
Had burst from the shell of decay, 
Had come to its God and its home, 
As the bead in the moss-covered dell 
Breathes, sparkles, ascends, and is gone ; 
As the sun in the cloud-banks of fog 
Shines on through the shades of the mist, 
And in shining mounts up through the gloom. 

As once unto men it was given, 
That face all resplendent with light 
On the mountain of rapture to see, 
While the prophets of law and of fire 
As hostages came to the scene, 
And the voice of the Father was heard ; 

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So now in this vision of faith 
The face of the Master I saw, 
Serene, yet transfigured with joy, 
Majestic, yet peaceful, at rest — 
Rejoicing and blessed and calm ! 

While thus on these faces I gazed, 
And dreaded the heart-beats of Time, 
Lest the vision should fade on my sight, 
A group by the wayside I saw — 
The prophets of God, who their song 
To Jesus the Conqueror raised. 



v. 

CHORUS OF CHRISTIAN PROPHETS. 

In the niches of time we have stood 

Bearing our witness to Thee ; 
We have sealed our belief with our blood, 

Thy face, O our Master, to see ; 
We have spoken, while men in derision 

Have scoffed in a wild despair ; 
We have heeded the heavenly vision 

With the spirit of humble prayer ; 
We have answered the voices from heaven, 

God's message we've dared to tell ; 
We have scattered that holy leaven 

Which has saved a world from hell. 



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God's workmen in travail and, sorrow, 

God's miners, who dig for the ore, 
We have lived in the sure to-morrow, 

Our sotils have been weary and sore. 
In our hearts was a pure desire, 

In our minds was foreknowledge of death ; 
We have handled that sacred fire 

Which has lived with our dying breath. 
Time was the space for our tears, 

Strength was the gift of life's span, 
Existence a burden of years — 

But our field was the spirit of man. 

And now, in the Autumn's gleaning, 

No longer the spirit grieves, 
For the reaper the sower's meaning 

Learns 'mid the golden sheaves. 
Thy presence, O Christ, adorning, 

Our palms at Thy feet we lay, 
The dew of Thy birth is the morning 

Of everlasting day. 




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VI. 
RECITATIVE. 



It was then I heard hurrying feet, and lo ! Michael 

my guide stood before me, 
Leading some awe-stricken sages, who halted and 

stood by the wayside. 
Taking the hand of the foremost and leading him 

straightway to Jesus, 
The mailed archangel thus spake, as he screened his 

strong eyes in the sunlight : 
"These, too, are Thy children, O Master — Thy fol- 
lowers, O Christ, in the twilight ; 
Never of Thee have they heard, save the voice which 

has sounded within them ; 
Never Thy face have they seen, save the light which 

doth lighten the human ; 
Never Thy hands have they clasped, save the grasp 

of their souls on the conscience — 
Therefore to them it is given — now, O ! blest King, 

to behold Thee, 
Bless them, O ! Jesus, our Master — Thy children 

own Thee and love Thee. 
Following the light which was in them, never misled 

by the darkness." 



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VII. 
CHORUS OF HEATHEN SAGES. 

Lord and Master we are Thine, 
We are human — Thou divine, 
Yet for Thee the soul doth pine. 

In the darkness we have head 
Voices from Thy Holy Word, 
Thou our spirits' depths hast stirred. 

Deep must ever call to deep, 
Conscience cannot always sleep, 
We the truth of God would keep. 

In God's image we are made, 
With His lineaments arrayed, 
God within us is obeyed. 

Thou hast spoken to our need, 
Blessed they who have believed — 
Seeing not, yet undeceived. 

Saviour Thou of souls unknown, 
When Thou comest to Thy throne, 
Place us — place us — near Thine own ! 



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..... 

RECITATIVE 

Bui ri I : -ir 

ieir carols : 

- angels and flints. 
Sage* -.- i s : : : _ i. 

Theii :: It d my ear. 

The voices 7 :". -.dhood confessed. 
Fresh in iheii fullness 7 song. 
Res ; :. : nt ten lei an :. pure. 
7: 7_: ; i I hear. 

the roice 7 the little mes -: ed. 
: _ ghi 

The face ::' the Father behold 
Then p] g age I said 

To the | stood close by my 

The meaning 7 this would I kn( 

e these r 
7' lied — 

_ the 7. : ~t :: L7_r7. ::. 7 - -. -- tr. 
v. : 7 have shared — 

The the night 

7 him 
7 : j ith woe, 
g refused 

ears, 



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IX. 
CHORUS OF HOLY INNOCENTS. 

Thou art welcome — O, how welcome ; 

Thou the world's expectant King : 
Early would we go to greet Thee, 

Early songs of welcome sing. 
To the crowns of Thy rejoicing 

We would add a martyr's gem ; 
We who died that we might save Thee 

On the plains of Bethlehem, 

By the cruel sword of Herocl 

Ere we passed life's threshold o'er, 
Like the fragrant early blossom 

Seen and felt but found no more, — 
For a moment in the gloaming 

Living — uttering but a cry. 
We have clone our sacred errand — 

Died, that Jesus might not die. 

Others may have lived and suffered, 

Others may have preached Thy word ; 
Some in kingly state and purple 

May proclaim Thee Christ their Lord ; 
We have lived that we might spare Thee 

To redeem a world from loss ; 
We have died that we might bear Thee 

Fellowship upon Thy cross. 



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X. 
CONCLUSION. 

I raised my head for a moment, the organ notes 

were low, 
There were chords which stirred my spirit as I felt 

the steady flow 
Of the thoughts which had overcome me with an 

impulse strong and deep, 
As kneeling beside the column, I had fallen a 

moment to sleep. 
I had thought of the tomb in the garden, so empty, 

forsaken, and bare : 
I had heard the closing anthem, and had knelt for 

the final prayer : 
It must have been in a moment, Heaven opened on 

my ken, 
For I saw this glimpse of Paradise, ere we chanted 

the last Amen. 
Out from the holy silence of these forty days of 

prayer 
My feet pressed on with the surging crowd in the 

busy thoroughfare, 
Back to the weary, dreary world, with its cares and 

toils I came, 
But my heart I had left at the altar rail, enshrined 

with the Master's name. 

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And never can I forget the glimpse of that life that is 

to be, 
Which came to my soul in that organ strain, while I 

felt what I could not see. 
And through all my life my faith grows strong as I 

come to Easter Even, 
And think of the vision, which God vouchsafed, of 

the welcome of Christ to Heaven. 




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